Editing Garland's Garrotes (section)

===Steading of the Hill Giant Chieftain===
In [[Calendar#Year 2966|2966]], following the [[Shattering of Orodeth]], many of the giant tribes that had previously been kept under control by the [[Mercantile Alliance]] grew bolder and began openly raiding nearby towns. With [[Drake's Company]] and [[Kazak's Follies]] both disbanded, the leaders of [[Northeron]] sent word out for local heroes to band together and fight against the giants. Thus did [[Dawn Breeze]], [[Garland]] and [[Zook]] join former Mercantile Alliance marine [[Karriss Kellson]]; and former wizard of Drake's Company [[Ru Bae Ya]]; in traveling to the fortress of the hill giant chieftain, [[Nosnra]].

It was raining when they arrived, and Garland took advantage of the reduced visibility to quietly assassinate the hill giants standing guard outside. Entering through a side door, they snuck down a side passage, avoiding the main hall as they dispatched every hill giant they encountered. In one room they were attacked by a cave bear, but Dawn Breeze charmed it into following her. The druid continued to act kindly to the bear, hoping to entice it to continue following her once the enchantment wore off. In another room, they found a letter from a mysterious person named [[Eclavdra]] directing Nosnra on where to strike next. In the kitchens, Garland found a small army of orcish slaves forced to cook for the giants. Garland encouraged them towards rebellion, suggesting that the giants would not be in power for much longer.

Entering what they thought was a side room, though, they found themselves in the great hall where Chief Nosnra himself was in the midst of a feast, alongside his bear, his wife, several more hill giants, and a cloud giant. A massive battle erupted, during which Nosnra picked up a massive ballista mounted on the wall and fired large spears at the adventurers. Many of them were felled by the giants' blows, only to be revived by their comrades' healing magic, but when at last the final blow had been struck nearly all of the giants lay slain, along with Nosnra's pet bear, and all of the adventurers were badly wounded but nevertheless alive. The only surviving giant was the cloud giant, who had been polymorphed into a hamster by Ru Bae Ya; the party let it go outside before resting and bandaging their wounds. Sergeant Kariss also claimed the cloud giant's magical greatsword, which turned out to be an intelligent blade that called itself [[Waythe]].

When the kitchen slaves arrived and found the adventurers among the dead giants, the language barrier between them resulted in the orcs initially thinking that Garland was the adventurers' prisoner, and the orcs demanded their release. After the misunderstanding was finally cleared up, Garland pledged to free the rest of the orcs enslaved in the fortress.

While the burgeoning orc rebellion took the upper floor, the adventurers descended down into the ancient ruins below, now mostly in use as a dungeon. They quickly dispatched the Keeper in charge of the slaves, as well as the bugbear guards employed by the giants, liberating all of the orcs they came across. When they found a pair of stone giants, the adventurers raised their weapons only for the giants to insist that they had no desire to fight, having simply been hired to help expand the dungeons, and with the chief dead they considered the job finished. The fire giant armorers were less inclined to depart, and were slain. In one corner room, they found an ancient-looking altar in a chamber engraved with disturbing runes that glowed with a sickly light; after backtracking up the hallway, they collapsed the tunnel to seal it off. Eventually, they found what seemed to be the giants' treasure hoard. In addition to all of the coins was a map showing the location of a frost giant stronghold, as well as a magical chain and instructions to use it to teleport there. Despite being unsure as to whether they could return, the adventurers used the chain to transport themselves to the frost giants' stronghold.